By Emmanuel Nduka
Simon Guobadia, an Atlanta-based Nigerian businessman, has been arrested by ICE agents after over four decades of evading deportation.
The 62-year-old, who arrived in the U.S. in 1982, has had a tumultuous history with U.S. immigration authorities dating back to the 1980s. Despite multiple run-ins with the law, including overstaying his visa and pleading guilty to bank and credit card fraud, Guobadia managed to remain in the country.
His latest run-in with ICE comes after a 1985 order declaring him deportable for overstaying his visa. Although he was deported in 1992, he returned to the U.S. within a month, claiming permanent residency under an undisclosed identity—a move that later complicated his naturalization process.
His 2016 application for citizenship was denied, citing his unlawfully granted permanent residency.
Guobadia, originally from Edo State in Nigeria, married Real Housewives of Atlanta star Porsha Williams in an extravagant ceremony in 2022, but their relationship soured by February 2024, with public callouts on social media.
Currently detained at the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, Guobadia is now facing deportation under President Trump’s stricter immigration policies.
It remains unclear what will happen to his 15,000-square-foot mansion in Sandy Springs, Georgia, should he be sent back to Nigeria.
The businessman’s long-standing struggle with U.S. immigration laws raises questions about the complexities of the system, as his fate hangs in the balance.
Will this 40-year saga come to an end with his deportation, or is there another twist in the story?
